Neymar s injury is a real hard blow to Paris Saint-Germain ahead of the Champions League resuming, Lyon coach Rudi Garcia said.

The Brazil forward was ruled out for up to four weeks after suffering an adductor injury in PSG s Coupe de France clash with Caen on Wednesday.

Neymar will miss Tuesday s trip to Camp Nou to face his former club Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, while he is also in doubt for the return clash.

Garcia, whose team are second in the Ligue 1 table ahead of PSG by a point, said the injury was a major setback for Mauricio Pochettino s men.

It would be good if the two French teams could represent us with dignity and go as far as possible in the European Cup. It s a real hard blow, Garcia told a news confe…

Mauricio Pochettino was “angry and disappointed” after watching Chelsea fall apart in their 4-1 Premier League defeat at Newcastle.

The Argentinian was left furious by his side’s second-half capitulation at St James’ Park, which saw full-back Reece James sent off to erase the memories of their creditable displays against Tottenham and Manchester City before the international break.

Pochettino, who watched the game from the directors’ box as he served a touchline ban, said: “We didn’t prepare ourselves in the best way to compete today, that is my concern.

“We thought that we were ready to compete today, but we didn’t in the way that the competition demands.

WE ARE UNITED.

— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC)

“Even if Newcas…

Chelsea are at a different stage of their development to Arsenal, claimed Graham Potter after the Blues defeat to the Gunners at Stamford Bridge.

Gabriel Magalhaes bundled home for Arsenal shortly after the hour on Sunday to seal a 1-0 win that sent Mikel Arteta s side back to the top of the Premier League.

It means Chelsea are now without a win in four league matches, while they have lost back-to-back top-flight games for the first time since December 2020.

Chelsea sit seventh, 13 points behind Arsenal, with just one league game remaining prior to the World Cup.

For Potter, who took over from Thomas Tuchel in September, Sunday s result was merely evidence of the work Chelsea have ahead of them.

He told BT Sport: We re playing against a team in a …

Patrice Evra accused Arsenal of being weak-willed babies following their 1-0 loss to Sheffield United on Monday.

Lys Mousset s first-half goal punished Nicolas Pepe s earlier close-range miss and condemned the Gunners to a second defeat in nine Premier League games.

Unai Emery claimed his side did not deserve to lose but former Manchester United defender Evra disagreed and attacked the team s character.

In an appearance on Sky Sports, the retired left-back claimed the club s shortcomings were ingrained and became clear to Robin van Persie following his move from Arsenal to Old Trafford in 2012.

I used to call them my babies 10 years ago and they are still, when I look at them, my babies. That s the truth, Evra said.

I m not being disrespectful w…

Manchester City winger Patrick Roberts has joined Championship side Middlesbrough on loan after having his Norwich City stay cut short.

Roberts, 22, joined the promoted Canaries ahead of the 2019-20 season after signing a new Man City contract and was expected to see plenty of first-team football given Daniel Farke s faith in young players.

However, the former England youth international has made just three substitute appearances in the Premier League, amounting to 23 minutes.

Boro will be Roberts fourth loan destination following his spells with Norwich, Girona and Celtic.

A closer look at s new addition  

— Middlesbrough FC (@Boro)

The winger had been highly rated as a teenager, bursting on to the scene as a 16-year-old with Fulham…

England will meet Scotland, Argentina and Japan in the group stages of the 2019 Women s World Cup, while holders the United States will face Thailand, Chile and Sweden.

Having topped a group that featured Wales in qualifying, Phil Neville s Lionesses will face another home nation in the finals in Scotland, who England beat 6-0 in their opening game of Euro 2017, while 2011 Women s World Cup champions Japan are also in their pool.

Holders USA, who beat Japan in the final in Canada three years ago, will start the defence of their title against Thailand in Reims.

Germany, semi-finalists in 2015, have been handed a group that includes China, Spain and South Africa, with hosts France drawn alongside South Korea, Norway and Nigeria.

Australia s group features I…

Diego Maradona has laughed off Cristiano Ronaldo s claim of being the greatest footballer ever and believes he would have won more Ballons d Or than the Portugal star.

Ronaldo collected Europe s most coveted individual honour for a fifth time earlier this month, equalling Lionel Messi s record.

The pair are both two clear of Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten, having shared the award between them since 2008.

But with non-Europeans only becoming eligible in 1995, Maradona poked fun at Ronaldo s assertion of being the best player in history.

Tell him to stop taking the p***, Maradona joked to Spanish publication AS.

I would have more than Cristiano and Messi.

It is very difficult to give just one Ballon d Or to a player. Be…

Romelu Lukaku s two-goal showing for Inter at Bologna has earned him a place in the FUT Team of the Week, though Timo Werner s inclusion is arguably the most deserved of this week s selection.

Werner lit up the Bundesliga at the weekend with a hat-trick and a treble of assists in RB Leipzig s 8-0 demolition of Mainz, having a hand in all but two of Leipzig s goals in a remarkable win.

The Germany international became only the second player to be involved in six goals in a single Bundesliga match since detailed Opta data collection began in 2004-05 – the first being Claudio Pizarro with four goals and two assists in May 2013.

He is partnered in attack by Lukaku after his goals secured 2-1 comeback win on the road, while a forward-thinking back three includes Ju…

The deadline day of the January transfer window has been a truly hectic one for many clubs, especially those in the Premier League. As we have witnessed, a lot of English clubs have been doing plenty of work on Friday and a few of them were eager to sign players from China. In the end, Tottenham Hotspur failed to sign Odion Ighalo who decided to join Manchester United on a six-month loan, but one other club decided they did not want to sign a player from China.

That was Chelsea, who reportedly rejected a chance to get Dalian Yifang striker Salomon Rondon on deadline day. The Venezuela striker was linked with a move to Stamford Bridge according to the Telegraph, but it was in the end the European champions from 2012 who decided to reject such an opportunity.

The former W…

The world-record transfer fee has been broken for the second year in succession following Neymar s €222million switch from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain.

PSG activated the release clause in the Brazilian s contract to take him away from Camp Nou, absolutely smashing the deal that saw Paul Pogba return to Manchester United from Juventus for a fee that could reach €120m just last year.

Neymar s move continues the astonishing upward trend in fees paid for the top talents in the modern era, breaking barriers that previously seemed inconceivable.

Christian Vieri was the world s most expensive player at the turn of the millennium having swapped Lazio for Inter in a €49m deal.

We take a look at how the world-record fee has progressed in the 21st century…